Credit Connect

Creditsafe has created a Prompt Payment Premier League table. The table reveals that English Premier League Clubs have overdue invoices totalling £1.3million and 20% are late by 20 days or more beyond the agreed payment terms. Manchester United who place 19th in the Prompt Payment Premier League have 63 outstanding invoices totalling £857,183, making up 66% of the total value of outstanding invoices owed by all Premier League clubs.

Despite having a combined annual turnover of more than £987million, Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United all pay their suppliers on average, 8 days slower than the Premier League average of 13 days beyond terms (DBT). In comparison, 2 out of the 3 clubs who have been relegated this season – Hull City and Middlesbrough – were in the top 50% most prompt payers in the Premier League, paying in 10 days or less beyond agreed terms and have outstanding invoices to the value of less than £1,000.

Sunderland AFC, who finished bottom of the table in the 2017 season also find themselves at the foot of the Creditsafe Prompt Payment Premier League, paying its bills, on average, 25 days beyond agreed terms. The most prompt payers of the Top Six clubs in the Premier League were Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, paying their bills in 12 and 13 days beyond agreed terms respectively.

Noticeably, none of the Premier League Clubs pays businesses within the agreed payment terms. Middlesbrough and Swansea City topped the table for being the promptest paying football clubs in the Premier League, paying their bills just one day beyond agreed terms and 12 days under the industry average.

Rachel Mainwaring, Operations Director at Creditsafe UK said: “In recent years we have seen the emergence of a late payment culture in the UK. Even in the Premier League, with all the money that is available to its top clubs, late payment is rife. This is a problem for businesses dealing with the wealthy premier league clubs, who find themselves with a potentially dangerous financial shortfall. As this year’s Premier League season comes to an end, it’s interesting to see that lower placing clubs pay their bills the fastest. In fact, excluding Sunderland, it’s the top ranking clubs of 2017, with turnovers over £250 million, that pay the latest and finish in the relegation zone of our alternative premier league table.”